The clouds slowly climbed across the bright blue sky, casting an occasional shadow over the green valley. The boy hummed a tune as his feet dangled across the edge of the porch watching the crest of the far off hill, the expectant yet worried look in his eyes contrasting starkly to his seemingly carefree mood.

The Abyss Watcher blinked as he looked at his gloved hand.

Shrugging the boy went back to lightly swinging his feet.

The Abyss Watcher's eyes narrowed as he hopped off the porch reaching for his sword that lay beside him.

The boy frowned as he sat back on the porch, the worry in his eyes growing ever more as the clouds began to become more numerous. The boy placed the sword back on the porch, wincing as a headache came upon him.

The Abyss Watcher looked around in confusion as he did not remember sitting back down. Reaching for his sword he winced as a sharp pain came upon his head. Looking at the sword his eyes narrowed as he observed the blade of the sword. About a quarter of the long blade seemed to be consumed by some sort of purple flame, not able to pass beyond a straight and invisible line.

The boy frowned as he stood up, a figure beginning to come over the crest.

The Abyss Watcher's eyes narrowed as he spotted the humanoid black mass now standing upon the hill.

The boy calmly walked to the front door, picking up a small flask of blood before popping the cork off and downing the bottle.

The Abyss Watcher felt rejuvenated, as though if he fought now he would be at his best ever.

The boy looked at the Abyss Watcher, a look of confusion in his eyes.

"Abyss Watcher? Helloooo? Are you alive in there?" A female voice echoed from within the boy as his mouth hung ajar.

The Abyss Watcher tilted his head in confusion at the voice before a sharp pain stabbed into his head, causing him to shut his eyes as he winced...

The Abyss Watcher's eyes opened once more, his vision filling with the familiar sight of the orphanage where he had first met with Kayla. The woman in question now leaned over him a concerned look in her eyes.

"Are you all right?" She asked, voice filled with worry.

The Abyss Watcher stared silently as he wondered what on earth she was talking about. For some reason his mind seemed a little...fuzzy. Just a little bit mind you. As though someone had used a very thin cloth to cover his thoughts. Nodding to ease Kayla's worries he gestured for her to continue.

Frowning for a second, she spoke again, "Well, considering that now Argent seems to have recovered back to a healthy state I was about to go and find a mage to teach her to control her magic." She explained, "I was thinking maybe Skyla or another mage from the Guild."

The Abyss Watcher nodded absentmindedly still trying to fully decipher just what he was missing. Kayla continued to talk about potential candidates for the teacher position before eventually getting up and leaving, the look of concern still in her eyes as she walked out the door.

The Abyss Watcher winced as a sharp headache suddenly came over him. He blinked as suddenly what looked like a [System] screen appeared before disappearing before he could even make out the words. Frowning, he opened his [Status], looking through the different blue boxes that now appeared before him, his eyes focusing on the category called [Status Effects].

Status Effects: [Physical] Mute

This person has been left unable to speak due to an injury they sustained during combat.

Unable to speak.

Due to the lack of communication, activating [Skills] or [Spells] can be done through thoughts.

The Abyss Watcher frowned as he looked it over again and again. Something was...missing. He couldn't tell, nor remember what exactly it was but he definitely remembered that something was there. Narrowing his eyes, he focused on the blue screen trying to will whatever it was to appear.

...

[Intelligence] check unsuccessful.

[⋔⟒⋏⏁⏃⌰] ⌰⟒⌇⌇⟒⍀ ⟒⋔⍜⏁⟟⍜⋏⏃⌰ [⏃⏚⊬⌇⌇] ☊⍜⍀⍀⎍⌿⏁⟟⍜⋏ (⌿⟒⍀⋔⏃⋏⟒⋏⏁) Information unavailable.

Purging...

The Abyss Watcher gasped as it suddenly felt as though someone was splitting his head open with an axe. He groaned as he struggled to not fall over, both from the shock of the pain and the sheer volume of it. He hadn't felt pain of this magnitude for a very long time.

Fortunately however it ended just as soon as it began, causing him to release the breath he didn't know he had been holding. Blinking away the fog that had clouded his vision he looked back at his [Status], tilting his head in confusion. Why was this open? Shrugging he closed the blue menu, thinking that it must have happened on accident. After all, apparently all he needed to do was just think of the [Skill] or [Spell] and it would occur. Reasonably that could lead to some accidental activations.

Looking around the room he let out a tired sigh. He had done nothing but fight, not only ever since he arrived in this world, but also in his old world. According to his rough calculations using the age number in his [Status] he had been fighting the [Abyss] non-stop for over 2000 years. And, coincidentally, that also meant that this was the first time in 2000 years that he wasn't marching off to either fight or because someone asked him to do something.

When he first came into this world, he was immediately roped into the Guild, before being sent off to fight some monsters. And even when he came back Caelan insisted on being trained, which then led to Argent getting hurt, and then somehow led to him getting attacked by the Guild that he had only just joined a day before.

Leaning back in the couch he stared up at the ceiling. He stayed like that for a good few minutes, simply enjoying this moment of peace. Every action he has been doing for the past two millennia has always had some greater meaning, such as fighting the [Abyss], or...fighting those who worshipped the [Abyss].

He shook his head to clear the doubts that formed. He knew what he was doing when he became an Abyss Watcher. He knew that he had dedicated his life to fighting those horrid abominations. Now though, that he was in this new world, something felt...different.

Yes he hated the [Abyss] still, but it was like he lost the drive to pursue it. As though he would indeed destroy it whenever he could, but wouldn't actively hunt for it. He pinched the bridge of his nose, going over possible reasons for this.

Maybe it was due to his recent arrival in this world that seemed so...alive. Back home, everything was either dead, dying, or trying to make other things dead as it was dying. But here? People walked the streets without a care in the world, not wondering if the [Abyss], and subsequently the Abyss Watchers, would show up among their community. Everything was...healthy. As though the world was still in it's younger years and thriving with life.

Perhaps the sudden change from a grim reality to what seemed like something he would have dreamt of as a kid, also brought about a sudden change in his mindset?

He pursed his lips as he dismissed that idea. No, that wasn't how it should have worked, especially in such a small timeframe. Rather, it seemed as though he had begun to...feel more. Whereas before he had one purpose, that purpose was no longer prevalent or necessary. He nodded. That was more likely.

A third option edged into his mind before being suddenly lost, as though a fog had concealed it's location. Dismissing it as his subconscious getting rid of a stupid idea he went back to his aimless staring at the roof.

To be honest...he sort of liked the idea of doing this. Remembering that strange dream he had, it brought back faint memories. Memories of a time when he was a carefree child, with his...parents. Yes, that's right, he had a mum and dad. He never found out what happened to them. Following the attack he simply never looked into it. Couldn't look into it, for fear of the bad news. He let out a sad sigh.

He couldn't even remember their faces.

He shook his head. That was in the past. A very long, and very distant past. For now he had to set some goals. After all, so much had happened, and he had only been here for a day. For one, he had misunderstood and not correctly read the [Rifted] benefits, meaning that while their language could indeed be translated into his it did not work vice versa. Secondly, from both his deductions of people prattling on about 'factions' as well as what the blue haired woman said, it appeared that this country was in a bit of political turmoil.

A small smile graced his face. This world even had the time and freedom for silly things like politics. He wouldn't get involved in it however. After all, considering how quick he had been beaten and cowed by the blue haired woman, he would take any threats she made seriously. However, it seemed as though she was also actively stopping things from getting too heated, considering her claims of stopping the country from falling into civil war several times. That also meant that it was very unlikely for him to be roped into any of the aforementioned volatile politics.

So...he was free. Free to do whatever he wanted. His mind wandered to the night he had spent with his party, how they had to 'sleep'. This was a concept he was vaguely familiar with, heck, if he tried hard enough he could remember the feeling of sleep back when he was a kid. And while he didn't think he was physically capable of this 'sleep' considering he had never felt the need nor want to do such a thing.

Of course, getting knocked unconscious didn't really count as it was not voluntary. He tapped his chin with a gloved finger. Although, he could vaguely remember talk of people passing out from lack of sleep, so was sleep in of itself really voluntary? He shrugged. That wasn't what mattered now. He just wanted to try it after all, not get into some weird sort of sleep philosophy.

And so, he closed his eyes, filling his vision with a familiar and fleeting darkness he had only seen whenever he blinked. Was this how you did it? He wasn't exactly experienced in these matters. So he simply stayed like that, his eyes closed and body unmoving.

...

He could get used to this.